...by a ninja tree! ~.~

Life has been...challenging lately. It seems like every time the sun appears another cloud drifts by to obscure it. With all the crap going on I've had to take an axe to my online time...ok, I'm lazy and used my chainsaw, but you get the idea.

I got the first break from everything in a long while yesterday and took advantage of my freedom by going for a ride.

After wasting an hour pressure washing the last of the annoying cherry tree blossoms off the van, I loaded up and headed out for Stella.

I'd been there once last fall, but this time I was better prepared for the unmarked labyrinth of trails with my GPS and it recorded these results:

7.3 total miles
1.75 hrs moving time
1.2 hrs stopped time
18.8 max mph
4.1 avg mph
974ft total ascent
967ft max elevation

I took some random pictures with the crappy camera in my phone. These aren't worth putting in my gallery, but they give an example of the terrain.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y1.....s/65687035.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y1.....s/c7c62034.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y1.....s/93ff5cc5.jpg

This bridge wasn't over troubled water, but did lead to trouble.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y1.....s/cd384cb3.jpg

The trail got very challenging after that bridge and I had to hike quite a bit of it. I thought I was through the worse of it and started down a steep section after this:

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y1.....s/359ffdf7.jpg

There was a sharp drop followed by a steep rise, so I got my speed up to help make it though. When I crested the top, the trail dove abruptly to the left and dropped again.
The trail turned muddy and lined with roots, which made it impossible to slow down quickly when the trees turned EVIL!
WHERE WAS PINKY PIE WHEN I NEEDED HER!?

Anywho, I was battling a muddy, root covered, downhill trail when a root pitched me towards a tree. Just as I got my handlebar clear of it when the opposite tree punched me in the shoulder. The bike headed towards a drop off, but that was ok, since the tree hit me hard enough to upset the bike and the wheels were going out from under me anyway. I bailed off and I rolled into the fall further punishing my shoulder, then hip and legs and back then rolled back onto my knees to get up.
Yeah, not exactly a graceful dismount, but my guardian pony must have been looking out for me since I didn't land on anything but mud and moss.

My shoulder was killing me, but I could move it and I was less than three miles into my ride, so I brushed myself off and got back to riding. I didn't care how sore I was, I wasn't about to give up the precious riding time I had left and I've always found it's better to keep moving when I'm hurt anyway.

On the way home I made a quick stop by the bike shop to ask about some different brake pads, and once home I put everything away, took a hot shower, loaded a Pez dispenser with Ibuprofen and headed out on the XT to run some errands.

Buster needed chow and so did I, so after stopping by Petco I buzzed over to Nips for a burger. Once I was done choking down dinner, I topped off the bike, made a disappointing side trip to Big Lots (still out of ponies ~.~) and headed out to explore a local canyon road.
It was a pretty ride, although colder than I planned and the rain clouds started rolling in so I didn't waste time taking pictures. I rode to the end, took a couple side trips down logging roads and got back home just under seventy miles later.

I was pretty sore last night, but this morning I was feeling pretty good. Tonight I'm sore again after doing chores all day and driving up north to visit family.

Is it sad that the highlight of my life is crashing?